


Taking the Heat

by jessi_08



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-19
Updated: 2016-08-19
Packaged: 2018-08-09 18:54:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7813306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jessi_08/pseuds/jessi_08
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Carli confronts Hope about her comments after the game. Once the team learns why she did it they try to make it up to the woman.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Taking the Heat

Carli walked up to Hope as they walked into the hotel lobby. Much wasn’t said on the bus, it was quiet except for the few gasping breaths that sounded out every once in awhile. Carli tapped Hope’s shoulder as they walked, pulling the woman to a stop.

“You didn’t have to do it.”

“Do what?”

“Don’t act dumb Hope.”

“Carli, I’m too fucking tired for shit game—”

“Say what you said. You did it on purpose.”

“Carli, not tonight.” Hope turned away from the woman, tired.

“You didn’t have to!” Carli said, a little louder, and Hope stopped. She sighed and looked back at her.

“I did,” Hope said, walking back over to Carli. “Look at them Car. They are young, and devastated. We’ve never had this bad of a loss. We’ll get through it, but for now, I can handle the heat. It’ll keep the focus on me instead of them. Instead of Christen taking shit for the shot, or Alex, it’ll be all on me and that’s fine. I’ve been here before, I can handle the shit storm that the media ca—” Hope was cut off by Carli hugging her tightly. 

“You’re a complete ass, but I love you,” Carli said, tears filling her eyes again. 

“Whatever,” Hope said as Carli let her go, “I’m gonna go up.”

“Ok, I’ll come get you for dinner?” 

“Yeah.”

“Ok, cool.” Carli watched as Hope headed toward the elevators. She turned back to the team as the doors closed. 

“She did it for us?” Alex asked and Carli nodded. 

“You heard?”

“Yeah, kinda hard not to hear Hope when she speaks,” Tobin said and everyone nodded. 

“We gotta do something for her…” Mal said softly.

“Right, let’s make a plan.”

x-x-x

Hope sighed as she rolled over in the hotel bed. It wasn't the most comfortable thing ever but it wasn’t the worst. She just wanted to be home now, curled up in her own bed with her dogs and not a word about this Olympics.

She heard the door open and buried her head under the pillow as Carli walked in.

“You want to head down for dinner?”

“Honest?”

“Yeah.”

“No. I don’t wanna move.”

“Please?”

“I’m going, I don’t want to though.”’

“Hey Hope,” Carli sat on the edge of the bed, putting a hand on Hope’s shoulder, “no one tells you this, but you did great. You did our team, our family, a huge favor today and you stepped up in a role almost like captain. No, not almost… it was a captain’s move. You protected our team.”

“Car, it’s my job.”

“No Hope, it’s not. You took it on without worrying about the backlash you faced. You did a great fucking job.” Hope sat up and hugged Carli.

“Thank you, Car.”

“Come on, let’s get dinner.” Hope got up and followed Carli back down to the conference room where they could get dinner. When they opened the door, Hope was engulfed in a tight hug. She looked down at the top of Mal’s head before hugging her back.

“Gezz kid, warn an old woman next time,” Hope chuckled.

“You’re the best,” Mal mumbled and Hope sighed, looking around her team, all were standing around smiling at her.

“No, I’m not.”

“Shhh, you are,” Mal pushed and Hope chuckled. 

“Seriously Hope, you might piss me the fuck off at times but doing that… taking the heat off us, we can’t thank you enough.”

“Honestly, it was nothing.”

“Stop being humble… and come eat, we got some of your favorites,” Tobin said, standing next to Christen who still looked more than a little devastated. They started dinner, quieter than normal but their spirits were slowly coming back. When Hope saw Christen get up and go to head out, she jogged over to her, pulling her to the side. 

“Hey, I’m going to say something to you and I need you to listen.”

“Ok…”

“You did great. Fuck Jill for putting you in that spot, you are fine. You are going to shake this and come back and be even better.”

“Thanks, Hope,” Christen said softly and Hope pulled her into a hug. 

“You deserve better Chris, I can’t wait till our coaches see that.” Hope backed away from Christen who had tears welling up in her eyes again. 

“Hey,” Tobin said as she walked out. She had a plate of desserts in one hand. “Sorry, I noticed you didn’t eat much and well… we have a week before we have to actually… well you know.” 

“Hey Tobs,” Christen said softly and Tobin turned to Hope. She handed the woman a chocolate cupcake.

“Thank you. I know how shitty it is to have the media up your ass, especially for a missed PK but you… you kept it from us… from her.” Tobin said softly and Hope nodded. 

“Take care of her.”

“You take care of yourself too, Hope.” Tobin followed after Christen and Hope looked down at the cupcake in her hand. She smirked before heading up to her own room. She didn’t have to tell the team she enjoyed taking on the media. They just had to know that she was good at it and sure she came off like a bitch but those closest to her knew better. Who knew, maybe she would even be back in four years to keep the heat off of them again. If it came with cupcakes, she’d be there for sure. 

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you guys think.


End file.
